As part of the deal, Gallagher purchased both Portmore Insurance Brokers and Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wiltshire).

Established in 2006, the Southampton-based Portmore began as a mid-market focused insurance broker providing customized insurance programs for various industry sectors, covering private and public sector businesses.

Gallagher UK retail CEO Michael Rea said: “It’s fantastic to welcome the team from Portmore into the Gallagher family today — their business is an excellent fit for our strategy in the UK. They are exactly the right type of well-run, commercially led, growing regional broker we’re looking for to further strengthen and complement our existing UK branch network.

“Together with our existing operations in Southampton and Chichester, Portmore will help Gallagher become the pre-eminent commercial broker on the South Coast.”

According to Gallagher, Portmore’s founders and joint managing directors Graham Jacobs and Paul Chapman have significantly grown the business by means of consistently strong annual organic growth.

Following the acquisition, Portmore and its team of around 40 insurance professionals will come under Gallagher’s Retail branch network, which caters to customers from more than 50 locations in the UK.

Jacobs said: “Becoming part of a locally-focused but globally-backed insurance broker and risk management services firm enables us to take our business to the next level of expansion, as we look to develop and deliver ever more specialised and bespoke solutions for our clients.

“As a partner, Gallagher offers a great blend of complementary expertise, scale and geographic spread, while at the same time sharing our client-focused values of service excellence, professional integrity and teamwork.”

Gallagher has operations in more than 150 countries, which includes 30 countries in Europe.

The company, which provides risk management and insurance solutions for corporate, commercial and personal customers, has a workforce of more than 4,500 employees in the UK.

In June this year, the company acquired a 65% stake in specialist Swiss broker Hesse & Partner and Hesse Consulting in a move to expand its specialty broking capabilities and increase its presence in continental Europe.